Crown Castle International Corp. reported results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2020, updated its outlook for full year 2020 and issued its full year 2021 outlook as reflected in the table below.
(in millions, except per share amounts) | Midpoint of Current Full Year 2021 Outlook(c) |
Midpoint of Current Full Year 2020 Outlook(c) |
Full Year 2019 Actual |
Full Year 2020 Outlook to Full Year 2021 Outlook % Change |
Full Year 2019 Actual to Full Year 2020 Outlook % Change |
Site rental revenues | $5,555 | $5,317 | $5,093 | +4% | +4% |
Net income (loss) | $997 | $819 | $860 | +22% | -5% |
Net income (loss) per share—diluted(a) | $2.30 | $1.79 | $1.79 | +28% | —% |
Adjusted EBITDA(b) | $3,607 | $3,419 | $3,299 | +5% | +4% |
AFFO(a)(b) | $2,906 | $2,587 | $2,371 | +12% | +9% |
AFFO per share(a)(b) | $6.69 | $6.09 | $5.68 | +10% | +7% |
(a) Attributable to CCIC common stockholders.
(b) See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures, Segment Measures and Other Calculations” for further information and reconciliation of this non-GAAP financial measure to net income (loss).
(c) As issued on October 21, 2020.
“We delivered solid results in the third quarter and remain on track to generate growth in AFFO per share for 2020 that is consistent with our long-term growth target of 7% to 8% per year,” stated Jay Brown, Crown Castle’s Chief Executive Officer. “I’m so proud of how our employees navigated through a pandemic and a significant carrier consolidation in the wireless market this year. We have a long history of consistently delivering compelling growth through various market cycles and disruptions, highlighting the strength of our business model and the compelling value creation opportunity we believe our strategy provides to shareholders.
“As we look ahead, we have increased our annualized common stock dividend by 11% to $5.32 per share. With the strong demand we see for our Towers and Fiber infrastructure as our customers deploy additional cell sites and spectrum in response to the rapid growth in mobile data traffic, we expect approximately 6% growth in Organic Contribution to Site Rental Revenue across both our Towers and Fiber segments in 2021, supporting an expected acceleration in AFFO per share growth to approximately 10%. Our unique portfolio of assets positions us to benefit from what we expect will be a decade-long investment cycle as our customers deploy 5G, which we believe will start in earnest in 2021.
We believe our ability to offer towers, small cells and fiber solutions, which are all integral components of communications networks and are shared among multiple tenants, provides us the best opportunity to generate significant growth while delivering high returns for our shareholders. Based on the expected growth in data traffic and wireless carrier network investment, we believe the U.S. represents the best market in the world for communications infrastructure ownership, and we are pursuing that compelling opportunity with our comprehensive offering.”
RESULTS FOR THE QUARTER
The table below sets forth select financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 and September 30, 2019.
(in millions, except per share amounts) | Q3 2020 | Q3 2019 | Change | % Change |
(As Restated)(c) | ||||
Site rental revenues | $1,339 | $1,287 | +$52 | +4% |
Net income (loss) | $163 | $242 | -$79 | -33% |
Net income (loss) per share—diluted(a) | $0.38 | $0.51 | -$0.13 | -25% |
Adjusted EBITDA(b) | $883 | $853 | +$30 | +4% |
AFFO(a)(b) | $668 | $617 | +$51 | +8% |
AFFO per share(a)(b) | $1.56 | $1.47 | +$0.09 | +6% |
(a) Attributable to CCIC common stockholders.
(b) See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures, Segment Measures and Other Calculations” for further information and reconciliation of this non-GAAP financial measure to net income (loss).
(c) See our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 for further information.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE QUARTER
“We believe we can deliver on our long-term annual dividend growth target of 7% to 8% while at the same time making investments in our business that will support future growth,” stated Dan Schlanger, Crown Castle’s Chief Financial Officer. “Looking to 2021, the portion of our small cell backlog we expect to put on air has a higher proportion of collocation nodes relative to recent years, reducing the capital intensity in that business. Due to this reduced capital intensity, combined with the completion of several large fiber expansion projects in 2020, we expect our discretionary capital expenditures to be approximately $400 million lower in 2021 when compared to 2019 while delivering AFFO per share growth above our long-term target. We anticipate the combination of lower capital expenditures and higher cash flow growth will allow us to fund our discretionary capital budget next year with free cash flow and incremental debt capacity, consistent with our Investment Grade credit profile.”
OUTLOOK
This Outlook section contains forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially. Information regarding potential risks which could cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements herein is set forth below and in Crown Castle’s filings with the SEC.
DIVIDEND INCREASE ANNOUNCEMENT
Crown Castle’s Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.33 per common share, representing an increase of approximately 11% over the previous quarterly dividend of $1.20 per share. The quarterly dividend will be payable on December 31, 2020 to common stockholders of record at the close of business on December 15, 2020. Future dividends are subject to the approval of Crown Castle’s Board of Directors.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS APPOINTMENTS
In a separate press release today, Crown Castle announced that, as part of its previously announced Board refreshment plan, its Board of Directors has appointed Tammy K. Jones and Matthew Thornton, III as directors, effective November 6, 2020.
CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS
Crown Castle has scheduled a conference call for Thursday, October 22, 2020, at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time to discuss its third quarter 2020 results. The conference call may be accessed by dialing 800-458-4148 and asking for the Crown Castle call (access code 3114175) at least 30 minutes prior to the start time. The conference call may also be accessed live over the Internet at investor.crowncastle.com. Supplemental materials for the call have been posted on the Crown Castle website at investor.crowncastle.com.
A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available from 1:30 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, October 22, 2020, through 1:30 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, and may be accessed by dialing 888-203-1112 and using access code 3114175. An audio archive will also be available on Crown Castle’s website at investor.crowncastle.com shortly after the call and will be accessible for approximately 90 days.
ABOUT CROWN CASTLE
Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 80,000 route miles of fiber supporting small cells and fiber solutions across every major U.S. market. This nationwide portfolio of communications infrastructure connects cities and communities to essential data, technology and wireless service – bringing information, ideas and innovations to the people and businesses that need them. For more information on Crown Castle, please visit www.crowncastle.com.
Contacts: | Dan Schlanger, CFO |
Ben Lowe, VP & Treasurer | |
Crown Castle International Corp. | |
713-570-3050 |